Knicks training camp roundup—9/27/17

Wednesday was day 2 of Knicks training camp. Here are some slo-mo’s!

If speed is your thing, we’ve got you covered there as well. Ramon Sessions, who is something of a mentor to Knicks rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina, said that the young Frenchman kinda reminds him of Kyrie Irving. That may be premature!!

Here’s the quote from a Marc Berman article in the New York Post:

“It’s funny,’’ Sessions said in his first remarks since signing with the Knicks. “It’s one of those things. I played with Johnny when he was younger. Kyrie when he was young. He’s got a lot of Kyrie tendencies. Not the most athletic guy but can handle the ball in tight spots. It’s still early on, but he definitely gives me that Kyrie feel when Kyrie was a rookie. “

The Johnny in question is Jonny Flynn. Hopefully Berman’s error in transcription prevents Frank’s career to resemble Flynn’s.

In all seriousness, though, Ramon Sessions is a respected veteran who has had a solid career in the pros. This type of endorsement of the lottery pick is certainly a good sign. Frank was pretty happy with the praise, per Berman:

“Kyrie is Kyrie,’’ Ntilikina told The Post. “That’s something. He’s an All-Star, has done crazy things. Hearing that is a blessing. Ramon is here for me. Giving me a lot of advice. I’m learning a lot from him.”

Further down in the same article, Jeff Hornacek compliments Ntilikina for being a “sponge:”

“Frank’s like a sponge,’’ Hornacek said. “He’s asking these guys constantly. I even talked to him today about, hey, when you’re going through stuff don’t just look at it from the point guard spot, look at it from the two or the three spot. He says, ‘Oh, I’ve already been doing that.’ So he’s a very smart player but any veteran leadership that they give to him, he’s soaking it all in.’’

The piece ends with Ramon Sessions saying that he’s well aware that the door would be wide open for him to open the season as the starter at point guard. Sure.

The best news of the day is the revelation that coaching the defence will fall on the entire coaching staff’s shoulders, and not just on Kurt Rambis’, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.

Here’s Jeff Hornacek’s quote, rejoice:

"We've worked all summer — all of us — on how we want to do things. And we want to tell guys, 'Hey, if you have a question on defense, ask these three guys or ask me,'" Hornacek said. "Offensively, it's a couple of guys or ask me. We've got a good balance of guys that are working with different positions too. So it's kind of everybody."

I’m looking forward to seeing how the defence is going to look like when it isn't being run by just ONE dude. I mean, it’s still going to be Swiss-cheesey, but maybe people won’t look so confused all the time!

Finally, there’s more Michael Beasley. They say that ending an article with a strong quote is always a good idea. With Beasley in town, I’ll almost always have a good quote built right in! So I’m going to get into the habit of ending every article with a Beasley quote.

Beasley was asked about NCAA recruiting in the wake of the major investigation into recruiting violations at several big basketball programs. Ian Begley caught it on tape, and thank goodness he did:

Not only did he flash his signature wit at the beginning when he said that the public was only now figuring out just how dirty the world of recruiting is, Michael provided some really wonderful insight and personal anecdotes when asked if he thinks student athletes ought to be compensated. He mentioned that he played at a smaller school in a small town, and that the attention and revenue that athletes across all sports at schools like Kansas State bring is absolutely worth remuneration. He goes on to say that not all student athletes will eventually play their sports professionally, let alone at the highest levels.

I don’t want to spoil it for you all, but take the time to listen. Excellent commentary from my new favorite Knick! Fuck capitalism!!

Anyways, preseason soon!